6. Slipstream and Crossovers

The History of Science Fiction – 2000s

In 1989 Bruce Sterling polemicized the state of literature before arguing for a broadening of speculative fiction into the mainstream and somewhat off-handedly coining the term “slipstream” to mean “a kind of writing which simply makes you feel very strange; the way that living in the late twentieth century makes you feel, if you are a person of a certain sensibility” (n.pag.). His description and the monicker have since been employed in two distinct ways, as Pawel Frelik describes in his essay “Slipstream 101” (4f.): on the one hand it might mean a mainstream encroachment on genre fiction – similar to what Sterling proposes and what John Clute calls “a description of commercial piggybacking” (n.pag.) by mainstream authors using genre tropes to gain further genre audiences. On the other hand, it has been used to describe a genre discourse or sentiment of science fiction that Frelik describes as showing “cognitive dissonance, generic and conventional indeterminacy, and playful postmodernity” (4).

Lecture

This is the lecture “Slipstream and Crossovers (2000s)” by Prof. Dr. Doug Davis (Gordon College):

ADDITIONAL READING (ASIDE FROM THE Above mentioned ANTHOLOGIES):

Roughly 20 stories that mix, blend and shape the concept of slipstream every which way. Again, not all work equally well, but it is a great bunch of authors: Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Dave Eggers, Carol Emshwiller and unlikely choices like Stephen King or Nick Hornby.

Great slipstream story that mashes Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes detective style fiction with the Cthulhu-Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft into a strange alternate universe ruled by the Old Ones. Lovely presentation of text, too.

Link’s stories do not really fall mash a lot of science fiction elements, but rather blends different aspects of the fantastic. “Magic for Beginners” is an exploration of fan culture, metafiction and our infatuation of tv stars. “The Fairy Handbag” explores an alternate universe, time dilation and a magic handbag.